Connectors for this purpose in the prior art usually have a longitudinal profile which is substantially in the form of a U, having two branches and including hook means for hooking over the wiper arm, together with means for receiving an axis or pin carried by the windshield wiper blade, whereby the arm and the blade are articulated together.
In application to the fastening of a blade and an arm together, where the arm has a curve end portion, the arrangement is conventionally such that the connector is mounted in an opening formed in the main mounting element of the blade, with the transverse axis which articulates the arm and the blade together passing through this opening; and the connector is made so that it can lie in the concavity of the hooked end portion of the arm, while being held firm in that position by suitable means.
When attention of any kind is needed for the blade, the longitudinal dimension of the opening in the blade is such that it is not necessary to lift the wiper arm by a very great distance in order to separate the connector from it. In practical terms, the space between the securing pin and the outer transverse edge of the opening is so dimensioned that the maximum dimension of the hooked end portion of the arm is able to fit within this space. Thus, during fitting or removal of the blade with respect to the arm, the arm lies substantially parallel to the blade but is able either to leave or to enter this space without requiring much displacement of the arm.
As has already been disclosed in German patent No. 2 829 437, the connector includes edge portions which are extended, in a direction opposite to those of the free ends of the branches of the connector body, in longitudinal side walls of the connector body which are joined together at their ends by a transverse wall, these walls cooperating with the longitudinal and transverse edges of the opening formed in the wiper blade. These three walls of the connector body thus protect the end of the arm and the edges of the opening from any possible damage during operations on the windshield wiper.
In use, there therefore exists a free space between the curved or hooked end portion of the arm, the longitudinal edges and the transverse edge of the opening in the blade. This is not only detrimental to the appearance of the whole, but also enables undesirable matter to penetrate into the free space, which can in turn be detrimental to proper functioning of the wiper blade.